80--CONTINUED--28--LIFE GOES ON

I decided to write these posts so my family would know something about our lives, but decided that there was not much interest in what I had to say, but it is also for my own history and I plan to print it out and keep a record of the things that I remember.

There was a small place where the Alamosa library sent books to Manassa, as a lending library. I was asked to be in charge of it and I was at that place (it was an old building next door to the Conejos County Gas and Oil), one day a week checking out books. The county decided to build a library near LaJara. I was ask to be on the board of directors. We planned and worked on the plans for a year or two. When the time came to get books and make a library out of the nice building, I was asked to be a paid employer and to resign as a member of the board of directors. I went to Alamosa to prepare books that were given to us from their library, as they didn't need the books that had been used to loan to Manassa. I worked there for some time to prepare the books with the name of our library and to take our the Alamosa stamp, and to be taught all they could teach me about running a library. I also helped to get new books to fill the shelves. When the Library was prepared, I went to work there.

Marie DeHerrera was hired as the librarian and Vangie as an assistant. I helped Marie to learn how to be a librarian, as they had taught me. She had a degree and had not been trained to do a library. I loved my work there. It is a nice library and is well used.

I worked there for 6 years. When Arlo had surgery in Denver, I spent all of the time that he was there with him.. Larue and Harold lived in Colorado at that time and I stayed with them and rode a bus back and forth to the hospital. I worked when we were home again, and while we were waiting for him to be able to go on our mission. When we got our mission call, I was replaced and didn't work again until we returned from our mission. When I returned, I went back to work again. I was working and came home on December 7th. The house was dark and I was anxious, because Arlo was always home and had lights on. I found him in his chair. He had died. There are times when life takes a sudden change. My eternal companion and dear husband went on ahead of me.

I stayed on at the library for a year and was glad to have the work. At the end of the year, I moved to Mesa. My library days were past. That time was a special time of my life. I had spent 7 years helping to establish and run the Conejos County Library,

80--CONTINUED--27--MY LIFE CHANGED

When Arlo and I returned home from our mission, it was good to get home. Our family had redone the outside of our house and it looked so nice. We were pleased. We were assigned to talk in all of the wards in our stake. I learned things about Arlo that I had never heard before. He loved our mission and it was good for both of us.

Gordon Dean was living in our house when we got home. It was good to have him there while we were gone and it was good for him to have a place to stay. We had been home a short time,(the end of October) when he died. That was a sad thing for all of us. We loved him so.

I went back to work at the library. Arlo spent some time over at the old garage. He had a wood working machine, that he enjoyed. We went to the cabin and spent some time. It was a quiet time for us. On the 7th of December, I came home from work and found him dead in his chair. My life changed.

I was glad to have my job. It was such a change for me. I didn't sleep much. Sometimes I would read all night and get up and go to work. I raised a garden that year, too. I got myself very busy. I was on the cemetrary board for a number of years and still was. I was president of Hospital Auxiliary, I was on a genealogy board at the Alamosa Library. I was on a board of directors for a building that was to house older people. I was gone before they finished it. I was the County Republican Woman. I didn't give myself any time for thinking.

Elma and Hazel were on their mission and I felt so very alone. I was glad when Larry and Jeanette came to spend the summer with me. I look back and realize that I was not a very good hostess for them. I loved having them there and I enjoyed the children. Larry built new cupboards in the kitchen for me. I hated leaving them behind when I left. They were so nice. My home was nicer than it had ever been.

Don and Gloria were there for me too. They were so considerate of me. When I moved to Mesa my life changed. I missed my children and the family in Colorado, but I loved working in the temple. I bought the honda from my boss at the library, so I was able to go home at least once a year. If there were special things going on I went more often than that. I still enjoy going back to Colorado.

Sometimes the hard things in life help us to grow in a way that we would not otherwise. I love my life and my family. The Lord has been good to me.

80--CONTINUED--26--ANGELS IN MY LIFE

Arlo, He gave me a home and children. We had may good times, a mission and temple sealing.
I love my Arlo.

My Mom and Dad. They gave me life, the gospel, self-worth and love. My Angels.
My grandparents. They sustained me through one of the hardest times of my life. I love them and my aunts and uncles and their families. They are Angels to me.
My brothers and sisters. They are a mainstay in my life, along with their mates, my Angels.

Don, It is hard to say all of the great blessings he has brought into my life. He is very special to me. He is an Angel to me.
Gloria, a dear daughter-in-law. She has been there through hard times and joys. She is a daughter to me, a special Angel. I love her.

Kent, He has been a friend to me all of my life. I spent a year of joy with him. He makes my heart sing. He is one of my special Angels. I love him.
Betty, The Lord sent us a special Angel, when we got Betty. She is my Kidsie. She is a blessing to me. I love her.

Bonnie Lynn, My Sweet , Angel Bonnie, She is always there for me. It is not possible to say all I feel for her. She is my only daughter and one of my dearest friends. She fills my heart with love.
Emery, He has been a help and a blessing to me in so many ways. Angels come in different packages. I am glad that he is a part of our family.

Larry, I begged to get him. He has been a great joy to me. It is impossible to say the blessing he has brought into my life. What a great Angel he is to me. I love him.
Jeanette, I told her when she and Larry married that she was an answer to my prayers. The Lord sent me an angel when she became a part of our family. I love her.

These are part of the Angels in my life. I didn't put in the grandchildren and great grandchildren. Each of them have a special place in my life. They are my Angels.

My life is full of Angels. I have friends who drive me places since I don't drive anymore, people who uplift my spirit and love me. How thankful I am to the Angels in my life.

80---CONTINUED--25--GREAT GRANDCHILDREN

My great grandchildren are one of the great blessings of my life. My oldest grandchild is Matthew and the youngest is David Long. I would love it if all of them were as close as Shandi's children are. It is fun to get to know them personally.

Don and Gloria have 10 grandchildren, they are Jason and Becky, Marcy and Troy's children. Adam, Aubree, Katee and Riley, are Danette and Gary's children. Cory and Loritta's children are Brandi, Austin and Jacob. Each one is special to me. I have been blessed to have them as my family. The times I have spent with them has been very special to me.

Kent and Betty have 6 grand children. They are Andrea's children, Matthew, Luke and Ashleigh, and Robert has Hannah. Brenda and Tim have Aubrey and Chloe. When I think about these children, my heart swells with happiness. I don't know any of them as well as I would like to but I know a lot about them and love their pictures and information about them.

Bonnie and Emery have 6 grandchildren. Shandi and Todd have Amber, Michael and Meagen. Emery J and Daylynn have Alex and Anthony. Riley is a part of our family eventhough Monica and Chad are not together. All of them are special to me.

Larry and Jeanette have 4 grandchildren. Craig and Brina have Bradly and Luke. Julie and Clint have Leslie and David, David is our newest grandchild. I haven't seen him yet. It was fun to see them this summer, (not David). I always enjoy the children. I love them so.

I have had great joy with the ones that I have spent time with. All of them are part of my blessings now and I hope for eternity.

I made a crude map of the Bingham family property. I hope it will show you some of the things about our home between Romeo and Antonito. When we took pictures of it, I knew that it had changed so much that you wouldn't be able to tell what it had once been. It was a nice home and the out buildings were in good shape. Time does things to places and the memories go away.

One of the Bingham Homes

When we were in the San Luis Valley for a family reunion, we went on a picture taking expedition. These are the pictures of the Bingham family farm after many decades. We'll invite Mom and her siblings to write what they remember about this home.

When I was 9 years old, we moved from Manassa to this home. It was 3 1/2 miles from Romeo and 3 1/2 miles from Antonito.

It was a nice home, but the bathroom had never been finished, and water had never been piped into the house. The floors were hardwood and on the South side of the living room and dining room were french windows. They were like doors and could be opened like doors. there were three bedrooms on the North side of the house with a hall and the room that was not finished as a bathroom, was between the west room and the middle room. The west bedroom was the boys room and the middle bedroom was Mama and Daddy's room. There was a closet between the middle room and the girl's room, which was on the East. That closet was the full length of the bedroom and could be walked through from the middle room to the girl's room. The Livingroom and the dining room were one room. There was a fireplace between the 2 french windows. The door between the kitchen and the dining room, was a swinging door. There was a sink on the south wall of the kitcyen with cupboards on each end. The house was heated with wood and coal. The West entrance was into the kitchen and the East entrance was into the living room. In this picture you can see the windows on the North. Each bedroom had a window and the unfinished bathroom was the little window. The East bedroom had a front window also.


This picture (below) is the South side of the house. The trees are cottonwood trees. At one time we had a garden there, but it wasn't the big garden. On the back of the house, in line with the trees was a cellar. It was as big as a commercial cellar. It burned down one year when Daddy was in LosAlamos, working. It was big enough to park the car in the cold weather. It had double doors. For some reason, it did not burn the car, even though the car was parked in the cellar at the time it burned.

There were two big honeycycle bushes on the this side of the house. For several years there was a couple of yellow canaries that built a nest in those bushes. From inside the house we could see the nest and watch as the eggs were laid and hatched. That was so interesting. We were all disappointed the year that they didn't return.
On the North side of the house, we had a big garden. It was almost an acre. There was a row of rhubarb along the South fence. There was fence around it and there were willow trees along the West fence. We had a wonderful garden. We raised all vegetables and strawberries and raspberries. One year there were so many carrots that they filled a wagon box that was about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. Our cellar was really used in the winter. Potatoes, cabbages, carrots, apples and anything that needed to be protected from the weather.

-- Gatha --

This is the front entrance to the house. There were bushes on each side of the porch and a beautiful lilac bush on the north corner. There was a hedge on the South side of that lawn that went from near the house to the fence in front of the house. The highway between Romeo and Antonito ran just in front of the house and a railroad track was East of the highway. There was a train that ran from Alamosa to Chama, New Mexico every morning and returned every evening.

80--CONTINUED-- 24 --Tender Mercies from the Lord

In my lifetime I have been the recipient of many blessings from the Lord. They began the day I was born to Ted and Cora Bingham. I was a very loved child and member of a good family. My parents were loving and kind. I have wonderful siblings, that I love. I only remember my Grandma and Grandpa Dunn, because my dad's parents died before I was born. Daddy had one sister and many cousins and aunts and uncles, but I didn't know them very well, But my mom came from a big family and I loved them very much and they loved me.

I was blessed to learn about God and Jesus Christ, from the time I was small. I was baptized at the age of eight. I grew up in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, all of my life. Those are great blessings to me. I love the Lord with all of my heart. The gift of charity is one of the greatest blessings of my life. Paul tells in his writings that if we don't have charity we are nothing. I pray for that gift.

One of the blessings of my life is being married to a man who worked hard and furnished us with a home. Many blessings came to me because of my marraige. I was blesses to be sealed to him and my children in the temple. That is one of the greatest blessings of my life. The greatest blessing of my life is my family.

Donnie was our first child and he has been a blessing and at times a trial as all children are. He was the sweetest child and young man. He loved everyone and was kind and always saw the good side of people, when he was young. I ran over him with our car when he was about 2 years old. It was a miracle that he wasnt killed or injured, but he only had gravel burns on his back. I took him for exrays and all was well there. He has had all kinds of things that could have injured him, but he survived all of them. I used to tell him the the Lord was protecting him for better things. I believe he was. Donnie Served a mission for the church in Central America. When he returned home he got a job with the Phone Company and did that work all of his working life. He is now retired. He married Gloria Culler in the Mesa, Arizona Temple, and that has been a blessing to him and our family. Their three children, Marcy, Cory and Danette are my jewels, along with my other grandchildren. Each of their families are my joy, too. Marcy and Troy and Jason and Becky, Danette and Gary and Adam, Aubree, Katee and Riley, Cory and Lorrita and Brandi, Austin and Jacob are all very precious to me and are part of the tender mercies of the Lord, to me. Don and Goloria now live in Kanab, Utah.

Kent, our next child was such a tender hearted child. WE had a special feeling for each other all of his life. He survived bee stings all over his body and a snake bite. Both of them were frightening experiences, but they did no permanent damage. Kent served a mission in Torreon Mexico. He was the only one of our children who served in the armed services. He was in the army and served in Long Bin, Viet Nam, at headqurters. I am thankful that he was able to return home safely. He was in Colorado Springs still in the service, where he met and married Phyllis Hurtubise. They had Robert and Andrea. Kent got his BA degree in Colorado Springs and taught school for a time. He now works for IBM. Kent and Phyllis divorced and he married Betty Ann Wagner. Her children are Brenda and Eddie. The grandchildren from Kent and Betty are Andrea's Mathew, Luke and Ashliegh. and Robert's daughter Hannah, Brenda and Tim's daughters Aubrey and Chloe. Eddie was taken home to the Lord and had no children. He look forward to seeing him agaion. How can we say more about the blessings of the Lord to us. I am very thankful for Kent and Betty's family. Kent and Betty now live in Colorado Springs.

Bonnie Lynn, our next child and only daughter, When she came to our home and I was so pleased to get a girl. She is a person who never makes waves. She is as sweet a daughter as a mother could ever want. She has always been a blessing to me. She was her daddy's sweetheart. She went to Mesa and stayed with Leon and Jean and went to beauty school. When she returned, she worked in Alamosa as a beauty operator for a while. She served a mission in Idaho. After her mission she went to California and lived with Ina and Henry. That is where she met Emery. They married in California and lived there for most of their married life. Their children are Shandi, Emery J, Monica and John Henry. They went through a period of divorce. Ward and I went to Fallbrook, and lived there for almost a year. Later Bonnie and Emery married in the San Diego temple and all of their children were sealed to them. Their grandchildren are, Shandi and Todd's children, Amber, Michael and Meagen. Emery Jay and Daylynn have Alex and Anthony. Monica has no children and John Henry is not married. Bonnie and Emery now live in St George.

Larry is our last child. He was born in Romeo area. Arlo was working on a farm for Thales Smith and Larry was born at home. LaRue, my sister was expecting a baby at the same time as me and Harold was overseas. Both of us had our babies at our home. He was a big baby. Almost 10 pounds. He is such a smart person. He wore out our encyclopedias by reading them. When he was in the first grade in Manassa, he had brights disease, which is a kidney disease. His blood pressure went so high that the doctor gave him a shot that could have killed him, but it saved his life. We spent 10 days in Denver in the hospital, doing all kinds of tests. He never seemed to have anymore problems with that. Larry was at home after the other children were gone. He was 22 when he decided to go on a mission. He went to Argentina. He had many baptisms. When he came home, he went to BYU. He met Jeanette Cheshire there and they were married that winter. Both he and Jeanette finished their college after they were married. They had four children when Larry graduated with a masters degree in civil engineering. Arlo, Craig Brian, and Julie were born in Provo. Anita, Debra and Eric were born after their schooling. Their grandchildren are Leslie, Julie and Clint's daughter. They are expecting their second child. Craig and Brina have Bradly and Luke.. How very dear all of these members of my family are to me. Larry and Jeanette live in Hewitt, Texas, where Larry is working in his field on airplanes. Debra is in college at BYU Idaho and Eric is still at home. Arlo and Anita are in the Salt Lake area and Brian is in Colorado.

I have 3 sisters, and 2 brothers. Barbara, LaRue, and Doris Faye. Leon and Keith are my brothers. Keith died and now I have one living brother. When my parents died, Doris Faye came to live with Arlo and me. She lived with us for 6 years. She is like my child.

All of these people are my family and my great blessing. I love each one of them.
I believe these are tender mercies from the Lord.

THE HOUSE ON 3RD STREET (80--CONTINUED--23)

Arlo and I moved our family from the house across from Maggie Weston to the house on 3rd street. That is where we basically raised our family. When we moved into that house, it was in terrible condition. It had been vacant for a number of years and there had been no care of it. Most of the windows were broken. We had to replace them. There was about 6 inches of dirt on all of the floors. The walls were plastered and it was a poor job, so there were holes in the plaster. We repaired the bad places and at later papered the walls. It had good floors and was structurally sound. There was a place for a bathroom, but it had never been finished. Arlo put in the bathroom. He found an old bathtub that was ancient. It was small and in good shape. We worked hard to make a home out of it and it did make a good home for us for many years.

The floors in the joint living room and the dining room were hardwood and were beautiful when they were cleaned and polished. We put new linoleum in the kitchen. The three bedrooms had wood floors and we didn't cover them for a few years. We painted them. There were colonnades between the living room and the dining room. I always liked them. There was a china cupboard between the kitchen and the dining room. I liked that too. There was a pantry that had cupboards. It was good. There was a big window in the dining room. I made a covered bench in front of it and it was a good place to take a nap in the winter. The sun shone in it. I put Priscilla curtains on that window and it was pretty. There was a big window in the living room. I put draperies on that window.

We had a big yard and there was no grass when we moved there. We gradually did a lawn. We just mowed the weeds and it made a fair lawn. I raised a garden every year. We had an irrigation ditch in front of the house and that is the water I used to water my garden. The land there raised wonderful vegetables. I have never had a better garden than I had there.

There was a field in back of the house that Arlo used to keep his horses at times. When the boys were home they mowed the back yard and it really looked good, but it was too much work for me after the boys were gone. The horses and small mules kept the weed down when they were there.

Our house was around the corner from the garage that we owned. It was handy for Arlo's work and we were close to the store and church also.

I'm sure those walls could tell many stories. We bought a piano when the Romeo Ward was abandoned and the ward moved to Manassa to our new chapel. The piano had been the Romeo Ward piano. Kent and Bonnie Lynn took piano lessons. Donnie bought the piano, but he didn't take lessons. Larry started, but didn't last long. I loved the music from that piano. Music is a great blessing in a home. That piano is now in Cory and Lorrita's home.

Our neighbors were: Dorothy and Shelton Sowards on the north, Elma And Boyd Padgett across the street. Donald and Deon Jarvies North of Elma, Boyd and Ouida Brady North of the Shelton Sowards' Carlyn Sowards and family on the South of us. Cecil Haslett's family on the Southeast corner of our block.

80--CONTINUED--22 OUR MISSION IN ARIZONA

When all of the children were grown and had homes of their own, the Bishop called Arlo and me into his office and asked us to go on a mission. Arlo wasn't sure that we could do it. He sold the garage to Mitch and Mike 'Gary and they didn't pay anything on it and so it came back to us and we didn't have a job, except for the pay I received from the Library. Arlo told the Bishop that we would let him know our decision on Tuesday night. We talked about it and Arlo said he couldn't turn down his call, when he had expected his children to accept their calls. We didn't have an income if we went. The Bishop said the ward would send us, but that didn't feel good to Ärlo, but he decided to accept.

When we went for our physicals, Arlo didn't pass and was sent to Denver, because he had a serious heart problem. He had to have by-pass surgery. The doctor said he had a total blockage and was on the verge of a massive heart attack. He said he wouldn't have survived. He had 4 by-pass .

At the library a short time earlier, the county called me and asked several of the library staff if we were interested in a Blue Cross and Blue Shield medical policy. It would cover 100 percent of the cost of all medical bills. The agent said he didn't know how they could offer that policy. He said as an agent for the company, he was only allowed to get a 90 percent policy. I bought it and the county paid part of the payments. That insurance paid all of the three surgeries that he had.

When the surgeries were all done and paid, they called me by back to the county and told me that it was a mistake that we got 100 percent coverage. If we had not had that, we would not have been able to go on the mission, because we would have a big medical bill to pay.

On Arlo's ( Larry's son),2nd birthday, The 29th of September, Arlo and I entered the MTC. That night when we were all settled in our room, we got a phone call from Larry and Jeanette. Jeanette's father died that day.

We rode on bus to Holbrook, Arizona, where the Mission Home was. It was the only mission in the church that there was no airplane service. We stayed in the Mission home that night and the next day we went to Peach Springs, Arizona, where we worked for about 8 months of our mission.

When we first arrived there, they didn't have a branch president. The president thought Arlo might have to be the branch president. The searched the members of the branch and found a man who was not active in the church and Arlo helped him in many ways.

One of the first things that we did was go to the top of a hill near the town and Arlo took of his coat for me to kneel on and we knelt and he gave a Priesthood Blessing. That was a special experience for me.

We lived in a trailer house which was by the chapel. It was old and about ready for the scrap heap, but we did enjoy our time there. We had a lot of things that made our mission special.

80--CONTINUED--21

We spent many hour in the mountains. I remember one time Alta and Tiny and Norene and Sheila and Isabel and Don and RaeDean and Gordon and Arlo, and Doris Faye and Donnie and Kent and Bonnie Lynn camped out on Wolf Creek Pass. It was a beautiful place and I had a lot of pictures that we took up there, but I don't know if I have any of them now. Arlo was holding Bonnie Lynn. I saw somewhere that it was said that in that picture the child was Donnie, It was Bonnie Lynn. There was a picture of RaeDean and Doris Faye. It was close to the highway and we heard trucks passing by all night.

We made what we called a Brigham Bed. Out side was a dad, then all of their children between the mom. Next was the next family, starting with the mom, the children of that family and then the dad. The dad of the next family was next, then their children and the mom, until all of the families were in the bed together.
Cooking on a campfire and eating on the ground on a ground cover and playing games and telling stories.

I remember another time all of the same people camped in the Conejos Canyon. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed Grandpa Vance's family.

One year we went to the South Fork on the Conejos. LaRue and Harold and Eddie and Grandma Lawson and our family camped. There was a raspberry patch and we made jam and ate all the raspberries that we could pick. We mad a tent with poles and blankets for the kids to sleep in. We had fried fish and fried potatoes.


I remember one year LaVerl and I took some of the cousins to the flat below the cabin where they made a camp ground. We set up two tents. One for the girls and the other for the boys. We stayed there several nights. The girls decided to move their tent after several nights, and had just got it set up and all of their things in it when it started raining. One day Edgar, Ethel and Don and Elma came to have lunch with us. Just about the time that they arrived, it started raining. The lightning struck a tree nearby. I said that it hit a tree close because I felt a chip hit me, and Edgar said he didn't think so, but he went looking at the trees near where we were and and found where it had struck two trees that were side by side. It peeled the bark on both trees from the top to the bottom in a line about 3 inches wide from the top to the bottom of both trees. I watched those trees for several years, after we bought the cabin, and I walked along the river. One of them died.

Later, we had the cabin to stay in. That was nice for all of us. There wasn't as much preparation to get ready to go and we always had a place to sleep. There are a lot of memories there. I still enjoy going to the cabin. I never get enough of it. Those are precious memories. I enjoyed the reunions that have been held at the cabin. We had several with the Vances. Cecil and Jessie and Richard and his family and RaeDean and their children and Earl and Winnie and their children. Those are times that I enjoy remembering. There is a picture of Arlo, Earl, Richard, Gordon and I don't remember who else. There is also one of Earl and Winnie, Jessie and Cecil and Arlo and me.

I remember reunions with the Dunn family. We have some great pictures that were taken at the cabin. Those were wonderful times.

I remember many times as a young girl going to Aspen Glade Camp Ground. I always loved that place Arlo didn't like it very well so we never went there often with our family. We camped more at LaManga Camp Grounds. That was good too.